Profile: Countway Library
Protected within a glass case in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is a scalpel used in the first public demonstration of surgery under ether anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846. Perhaps it is appropriate that a tool that symbolizes a new era in medicine should be displayed within a library that houses the books, original research papers, and journals that have inspired Harvard researchers to invent the iron lung, introduce insulin to the US, and conduct the first kidney transplant.
On September 28, Countway was rededicated after a two-and-a-half year, $26 million renovation. First opened in 1965, the library has served hundreds of thousands of students, practitioners, and scientists in the fields of public health, medicine, veterinary medicine, and dentistry. But the story of the Countway is really the story of two libraries that have been intertwined for nearly 200 years: the Harvard Medical Library (HML) and the Boston Medical Library (BML).
In 1748, Richard Meade, the royal physician to King George II, donated the first two medical books to Harvard University, but the volumes were tragically destroyed in a fire at Harvard Hall in Cambridge in 1764. The basis for HML was provided in 1800 when Ward Nicholas Boylston donated an estimated 1,100 medical books to the university. Shortly thereafter, HMS moved from Cambridge to a building on what is now Washington Street in Boston.
As the HML expanded, two HMS faculty members, John Collins Warren and James Jackson, agreed to create a private medical society from which the Boston Medical Library (BML) grew. Later, Warren and Jackson guided the creation of Massachusetts General Hospital. It is John Collins Warren's scalpel on display in the Countway case.
In 1816, HMS moved to Mason Street and became known at that location as the Massachusetts Medical College of Harvard University. By agreement, the BML was soon housed with the HML until 1826, when the BML dissolved its corporation and moved its holdings to the Boston Athenaeum.
Throughout the next several years, both the BML and HMS libraries moved several times. Then in 1901 the BML built a facility at 8 The Fenway, which remained its home until Countway was built.
After Harvard University began erecting buildings on Longwood Avenue, HMS was relocated to the campus and was joined by HSPH in 1922. The two schools housed their libraries together in Building A.
When George Berry became dean of HMS in 1949, he wanted to create a larger, centralized medical library. Classrooms, a student lounge, and an amphitheater had already been converted to hold the burgeoning collections, but space and resources remained at a premium. The union of HML and BML became attractive once again.
"Both libraries were in somewhat of a crunch," said Judith Messerle, current librarian for the Harvard Medical and Boston Medical Libraries. "Dean Berry thought it would be great to merge the two."
In
1960, an agreement was signed to house the books of the BML and HML under
one roof. Dean Berry sought donations for the erection of the new building
and found a generous benefactress in Sanda Countway. Countway had inherited
a family fortune from her brother, Francis. Former CEO of Lever Brothers,
Francis Countway was famous for orchestrating the Lux Toilet Soap campaign
featuring Hollywood stars in the 1930s. Sanda Countway donated $3.5 million
to build the library that now bears her brother's name. Additional funding
came from other sources. The Francis A. Countway library was dedicated
during ceremonies on May 26 and 27, 1965.
When the trustees of BML signed the treaty that merged their volumes with those of HML, they stipulated that the regular users of their collections would continue to have access. As a result, the students and faculty in medicine, public health, dental medicine, and veterinary medicine of Boston University, Tufts University, and University of Massachusetts can use Countway today. The BML also had served as the library for the Massachusetts Medical Society, which publishes the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The editorial offices of NEJM can be found on the sixth floor of Countway.
The BML maintains to this day its own board of trustees and continues to offer memberships. An estimated 350 fellows currently belong to the BML. Their membership provides them with borrowing privileges at Countway. HMS oversees the financial structure of the library.
"It's a grand dance with a lot of people who care about medicine and health care," said Messerle.
Today, Countway houses more than 500,000 volumes, making it one of the largest medical libraries in the world. The Rare Books and Special Collections department offers scholars a plethora of original documents dating to the 16th century.
Countway is one of the few pre-eminent libraries that allows patrons to browse through open stacks; many libraries of similar stature require users to request volumes from staff who retrieve them from closed shelves. The library serves an average of 1,000 users each day, said Messerle.
"The library is a place of community," said Messerle. "At
any point in time, a library is a great leveler. Deans can meet students
in the stacks. Everyone comes in equally."
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For more information about the history of Countway, consult: Bibliotheca Medica: Physician for Tomorrow,
David McCord, editor www.countway.harvard.edu/bml/historov.html |
